Insulator for the conductors of electric railways.



No. 786,472. PATENTED APR. 4. 1905. P. D. WARD & H. 0. FURNISS.'

INSULATOR FOR THE GONDUGTORS OP ELECTRIC RAILWAYS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 11, 1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

No, 786,472. PATENTED APR. 4, 1905.

F. 1). WARD & H. 0. FURNISS. INSULATOR FOR THE OONDUCTORS 0F ELECTRIC RAILWAYS.

APPLICATION P ILED JULY 11, 1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES Patented April 4, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK DIETRIOI-I IVARD AND HARRY ORAMPTON FURNISS, OF HAN- VVELL, ENGLAND, ASSIGNORS OF ONE-THIRD TO HENRY PERCY BRADFORD, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

INSULATOR FOR THE CONDUCTORS OF ELECTRIC RAILWAYS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 786,472, dated April 4, 1905,

Application filed Julv 11, 1904. Serial No. 216,162.

To all whom 2125 may concern;

Be it known that we, FRANK DIETRIon WVARD and HARRY ORAMPTON FURNISS, subjects of the King of Great Britain, residing at 7 Holly Park Terrace, Church Road, Hanwell, in the county of Middlesex, England, have invented new and useful Improvements in or Connected with Insulators for the Conductors of Electric Railways, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to insulators or insulating supports for the electrical conductingrails or conductors of surface-contact electric railways.

Hitherto the. conducting-rails of electric railways have usually been carried upon insulators cemented or otherwise fixed both to the conducting-rails and to the sleepers of the track. With this arrangement it is found in practice that the depression of the sleepers owing to the passing of a train on the track frequently causes the rupture of such insulators.

The object of this invention is to prevent this breakage of the insulators; and to this end our said invention consists, essentially, in the construction of an insulator so that a relative movement or a certain amount of flexibility is provided for between the sleeper carrying the insulator and the conducting-rail upon the insulator.

In a suitable arrangement for carrying out our invention We provide an insulator, of glass or other non-conducting material, the upper surface of which is designed for carrying a clip for attaching the insulator to the rail, while the lower end is adapted to enter a socket, of metal or other suitable material, bolted or otherwise fixed to the sleeper.

To enable our invention to be fully understood, we will describe the same by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a sectional elevation, and Fig. 2 is a plan, of an insulator constructed according to our invention. Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3 3, Fig. 1. Fig. 4: is a sectional elevation illustrating a modification of the invention.

a is the insulating-block, which is made of glass or other suitable non-conducting material and which has preferably embedded in it a reinforcing material, such as wire-netting Z), to prevent the parts of the block from be coming separated in case of fracture.

c is the clip for carrying the conductingrail upon the block ct, and (Z is the socket or base which carries the insulating-block and which is fixed to the sleepers of the track.

The clip 0, as shown, is provided with two claws c the distance between which is slightly greater than the width of the conducting-rail which the insulator is to carry, but which are so arranged that when the insulator, after being placed under the rail, is turned slightly they will engage with the flange of the said conducting-rail, and so hold the same. It is to be understood, however, that the shape of these claws can be varied according to the particular kind of conducting-rail in connection with which the insulator is used.

The insulator is preferably made of polygonal shape in horizontal section, and the socket (Z is correspondingly shaped, so that when the insulator is in position and the base has been fixed to the sleeper the insulator cannot turn so as to become disengaged from the rail.

In the arrangement of our invention shown in Figs. 1 to 3 the clip 0 is represented as being secured to the upper end of the insulating-blockfor instance, by means of cement as at f, and the lower end of the insulatingblock is made with vertical sides which [it between the vertical walls 5 of the base, so that the said base shall be free to slide relatively with the insulating-block or the insulatingblock relatively with the base without communicating any stress to the said block. In the modification illustrated in Fig. at this arrangement is reversed that is to say, the base (Z is adapted to have the insulating-block cemented into itand the clip 0 is formed with a socket it, which fits over and is free to slide upon the upper part of the said insulatingblock.

In both of the foregoing arrangements a ledge or lip 71 is provided for preventing the part of the insulating-block which projects into the socket from being wetted. In the trrangement shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3 this ledge or lip is formed upon the insulating block a, and in the arrangement shown in Fig. 4 it is formed upon the clip 0.

Having now particularly described and as certained the nature of our said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we claim is- 1. An insulating devicefor the surface conductors of electric railways comprising among its members, a base having provision for attachment and provided with a socket in its upper face, acap having provision for attachment to the conductor and provided with a socket on its lower face, and an insulatingbloek interposed between said base and cap and fitting into both of said sockets, said block being permanently secured in one of said sockets and being free to move vertically in the other of said sockets, substantially as described.

2. An insulating device for the surface conductors of electric railways comprising among its members, a base having provision for attachment and provided with 'a socket in its upper face, a cap having provision for attachment to the conductor and provided with a socket on its lower face, an insulating-block interposed between said base and cap and litting into both of said sockets, and means for securing said block to one of said socketed parts, said block being free to move vertically in the other socketed part, substantially as described.

3. In an insulating device for the surface conductors of electric railways, the combination with the base provided with means for attachment and having its upper face provided with a polygonal recess, a cap provided with means for attachment to the conductor, and having a polygonal recess in its lower face, and a block of insulating material polygonal in cross-section fitting said recess, and interposed between the cap and base,said block being permanently secured in one of said recesses and being free to move vertically in the other of said recesses, whereby the cap and base are prevented from turning with respect to each other, substantially as described.

4. In an insulating device for the surface conductors of electric railways, the combination with the base provided with means for attachment, and having its upper face provided with a polygonal recess, a cap provided with claws for engaging the foot of the rail, and having a polygonal recess in its lower face, an insulating-block, polygonal in cross section, fitting in said recesses and interposed between the said cap and base, and permanently secured to one of said parts, said block being provided with laterally extending flanges extending on all sides beyond the socket portion of said base, substantially as described.

FRANK DIETRIUH \VARD.

HARRY (JRAMPTON FURNISS. Vitnesses:

JOHN E. BOUSFIELD,

A. ALBUTT. 

